Grain separator



Sept 6, 35.938. c. s. VAN SXCKLE GRAIN SEPARATOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledSept 30, 1936 p 6, 1938- c. s. VAN -SICKLE 2,129,452

GRAIN SEPARATOR Filedsept. 50, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 A ilor ney W 1938.c. s. VAN SICKLE v 2,129,452

GRAIN SEPARATOR Filed Sept. 30, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 In ventor PatentedSept. 6, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GRAIN SEPABATOR ApplicationSeptember 30, 1936, Serial No. 103,265

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to improvements in grain separatorsforming part of the well known type of combined harvester and thresher,and by means of which the grain is separated from chaff and otherdebris'while being treated for ultimate discharge from the machine tosacks or into a bin.

The grain separator of my invention is of the rotary drum-Sifter typehaving interior agitators for both lifting and conveying the grain, andalso utilizing pneumatic treatment of the grain, whereby a continuousmovement of the material is effected, to insure a maximum degree ofseparation of'the wheat from the chaff. An auxiliary drum-Sifter ofsubstantially duplicate construction may'also be employed in connectionwith the main or primary separator, if desired or necessary; forre-treating the sifted grain to insure complete separation of "the chaffand debris therefrom. Means are also provided for returning the tailingsfrom the primary separator or drum-'sifter to the cylinder and concaveof the thresher, whereby the separation step is repeated on the tailingsto insure against waste. The invention consists essentially in certainnovel combinations and arrangements of parts as will hereinafter be morefully set forth and claimed. In the accompanying drawings I haveillustratedone complete example of the physical A embodiment of myinvention wherein the parts are combined and arranged according to onemode I have thus far devised for the practical I application of theprinciples of my invention, but it will be understood that variouschanges .1135 and alterations may be made in these exemplifyingstructures, within the scope of my appending claim, without departingfrom the principles of the invention. In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal, vertical, sectional sifter. U55 Figure 4 isa detail sectional view extending longitudinally of the drum-sifter, andshowing also part of one of the exterior supporting rollers for therotary drum-sifter or separator.

Figure 5 is a detail sectional View, transversely of the drum-sifter,showing the means for ad- 5 justing one of the exterior shells on theinner perforated cylinder of the drum to vary the size of the openingsthrough the drum-sift-er.

Figure 6 is a transverse sectional view, as at line 66 of Figure 1, 0fthe drum-Sifter, showing 10 the supporting frame and the supportingrollers journaled therein for the drum-sitter.

Figure 7 is an enlarged detail perspective View showing the tiltable andextensible blades at the discharge end of the drum-sifter, together with15 one of the adjustable braces therefor.

In order that the relation of parts, and the functions of the parts mayreadily be understood, I have shown in the general assembly View ofFigure 1, the usual housing H of a harvester 20 or thresher, whichhousing is supported in suitable manner as by three transverselyextending channel beams I, and the rear end of an endless feed belt orchain F is also shown. The material is fed as usual to the concave C andits a; rotary, toothed, cylinder C where the straw is chopped into shortlengths, and from where some of the grain passes through a fixed screenI and falls upon the plane, inclined, longitudinally extendingfeed-table 2, which is suspended in the housing in suitable manner andhas imparted thereto by suitable mechanism a horizontal shaking motionto feed the material into the open end of the rotary drum sifter,indicated as a whole by the numeral 3. 33

The straw, passing over the screen I, is conveyed by the rotary beater Band pickers PP to the endless chain Sifter or belt 4, and from there thestraw is conveyed and disposed of in suitable manner. I O

The grain, chaff, and fine debris falling through the endless strawconveyer 4, fall upon another inclined shakingtable as 5 supportedbeneath the straw conveyer and operated in suitable'manher, and from thelower end of this table the material conveyed thereby falls upon themain feed table 2, which latter table feeds all of the material into theopen end of the horizontally disposed rotary drum-sifter 3.

Beneath the feed table 2 is located a fan casing it supported in thehousing H, and the fan 1 in the housing forces a blast of air throughthe nozzle 8', and the open end of this nozzle terminates at the openintake or feed end of the drum-sifter, just beneath the end of theinclined :35

feed table. The end of the feed table projects slightly into the openend of the drum-sifter, and the open end of the nozzle is located inposition to direct a blast of air into the interior of the drum forpneumatic treatment of the material in the drum in the separation ofundesired material from the grain.

The horizontally disposed rotary drum-sifter, which is located in thelower part of the housing H, is fashioned with a number of annulargrooved tracks 9, spaced longitudinally at intervals, and

a series of rollers H2 is provided for each track for the purpose ofsupporting and guiding the drum-sifter in its rotary movement. Therollers II] in each series are spaced about the periphery of the drum,and they are journaled in bearings of an open frame H, which ispreferably supported in suitable manner within the housing.

For revolving or rotating the drum-sifter on its axis, I preferablyutilize a sprocket-chain drive best shown. in Figure 2, wherein it willbe seen that the drum is provided with an exterior annular series ofsprocket-teeth I2, some of which are engaged by a Working flight of anendless sprocket chain 93, which flight is guided over the upper toothedperiphery of the drum-sifter by properly spaced idle pulleys l5 anddriven from the drive wheel l4, the latter being supplied with powerfrom a suitable source.

The drum-sifter 3 comprises an inner metallic cylinder made up ofsections as l6 and I! that are rigidly joined together, as by means ofan annular sleeve l8 to which they are riveted at IS, in Figure 4, andone of the annular rollertracks, as 9' for the rollers Ill, may befashioned by the use of spaced annular flanges on this sleeve l8.

The inner cylindrical wall or cylinder [6-41 of the drum-sifter isperforated over approximately its entire area, and the perforations 243are preferably arranged in spaced annular series; the holes orperforations being of a size adapted to permit passage therethrough ofthe grain from the interior of the drum-sifter to its exterior. The sizeof these openings or' perforations may be varied to suit differentconditions in the process of separation or sifting, and this variationin the size of the openings is accomplished by the use of two or moresplit, cylindrical, perforated shells as 2! and 22 which are mounted onthe exterior periphery of the inner cylinder and adapted to be adjustedcircumferentially of the inner cylinder. The shells are fashioned withannular rows or series of holes 23 complementary to the holes 25 of theinner cylinder lfi-l1, and the two sets of holes are adapted to registerfor a full capacity in passing the grain, or sifting the grain from thesifter-drum. The size of the available space of the openings may bevaried by adjusting the adjustable split shells 2!, 22 on the innercylinder. This adjustment of the split shells may be made by the use ofa device for each shell that includes a screw bar or threaded bolt shownat 24 in Figure 5. This screw bar is journaled to turn in its bearingsin flanges 25 and 25 that are riveted to the complementary ends of asplit shell, as 2| in Figure 5. The screw bar or bolt is also journaledat its center in a bearing in the bracketflange 2'! which is riveted at28 to the inner cylinder of the drum-sifter and located between the endsof the split shell. By means of the head 29 of the screw bar or bolt,and the adjusting nuts 30, 3!, and 32, it will be apparent that thesplit shell may be turned circumferentially on the exterior of the innercylinder to vary the size of the openings in the sifter, and then bymeans of the nuts and bolt head, the shell is locked in adjustedposition. A suitable number of these adjusting devices are utilized asrequired for properly adjusting and locking the shells in properposition.

Within the interior of the drum-sifter are mounted a series of spirallyarranged vanes 33, which are fixed tothe inner cylinder of the drum andthey extend from the front or feed end of the drum, longitudinallythereof, for approximately two-thirds of the length of the drum. Thesevanes are designed to rotate with the drum and agitate the material bylifting it and tumbling the material within the drum-sifter, and at thesame time, due to their spiral arrangement, the vanes convey thematerial toward the discharge end of the drum-sifter. In addition, thepneumatic treatment of the material, by means of the air blast issuingfrom the nozzle 8, assists in separating the chaff and debris from thegrain. The heavier grains thus separated pass through the perforationsof the drum-sifter, at the bottom thereof, and fall into a transverselyextending bin 36 beneath the drum-sifter. The falling grain passes downthe inclined walls of the bin to a transversely extending trough 35, anda spiral or screw-conveyor 36, suitably operated. in the trough, carriesthe grain to an elevator indicated by dotted lines at 31 in Figure 1.

Any material which might fail to pass through the bottom of thedrum-sifter is conveyed toward the tail or discharge end thereof, andthis material also is subjected to further treatment for separation ofthe grain from the chaff. For this purpose I utilize in. approximatelythe rear third of the drum-sifter a second annular series of agitatorblades as 38, which extend in straight parallel lines longitudinally ofthe drum, and are spaced apart at suitable intervals, as best seen inFigure 7 and Figure 5 for lifting and tumbling the material within thesifter. These blades, which extend radially of the drum-sifter, aretiltable and extensible, in order to adapt them for the best performanceof their functions under varying conditions.

The blades 38 are supported on the inner face of the inner cylinder bymeans of hinged straps, each having one end, as 39 adjustably fixed, asby a bolt 40 and slot 4| to the cylinder. The metal strap is hinged at42, and the section 43 of the strap is secured to the tiltable blade 38.Another section 44 of the metal strap is hinged at 45 to form a diagonalbrace for the tiltable blade, and at 46 the brace is hinged to theattaching plate 4! that is slotted at 48 and secured by bolt 49 to thecylinder.

To vary the width and lifting capacity of the blade, I employ anauxiliary blade-section 50 which is fashioned with attaching slots 5|and atl taching bolts 52 by means of which the auxiliary section 50 maybe adjusted on the tiltable blade to extend or contract the width of thetiltable blade.

These blades tumble and agitate the material at the rear end of thedrum-sifter and the pneumatic treatment from the air blast carries thestraw and lighter debris out of the drum-sifter through the dischargeopening 53.

Some of the material reaching the rear end of the drum-sifter maycontain a small percentage of grain, and therefore the unthreshed headspassing through the walls of the sifter near its rear or tail end, arereturned to the cylinder and concave for another separating step. Thus,the 7 material falling through the bottom of the drum is collected in anauxiliary bin 54 supported beneath the drum and fashioned with a bottomtrough 55 in which a transversely arranged spiral conveyer 56 operates.The conveyer discharges the' material at the lower end of an elevator51, shown by dotted lines in Figure lat the exterior of the housing, andthe elevated material is then returned to the interior of the housingthrough inlet port 59 for passage through the concave C and eventualfeed to the drum sitter, as heretofore described.

In some instances, to insure a thorough and complete separation andrecovery of the grain, I may employ an auxiliary drum-sitter 3 locatedabove the housing, as indicated in Figure 1, and constructed as asubstantial duplication of the main drum-sifter. The drum-sifter 3' issupplied with material from the shaker feed-table 59 which receives thematerial from the elevator 31, and an air blast for pneumatic treatmentof the material in the drum-Sifter 3' is provided through the nozzle 60from the fan 6|. The grain, as finally separated from the chaff indrumsifter 3' is collected in a bin 62 beneath the drum-sifter, and inthe trough 63 of the bin a spiral conveyer 64 operates to convey thegrain to sacks or to a storage bin.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent is:-

In a grain separator, the combination with a rotary drum-sifter, of aseries of tiltable blades arranged within one open end of thedrum-sitter, ontheinner surface of the drum and extending substantiallylongitudinally thereof an adjustable blade-section forming anedge-extension on each blade, and means for securing said blade-sectionsin adjusted position, comprising hinged metallic straps attached to saidblades, said straps each having hinged ends and an intermediate diagonalbrace, and adjustable means for attaching said ends to the drum sitter.

CHARLES S. VAN SICKLE.

